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The evolution of cybersecurity practices is reshaping how organizations tackle vulnerabilities, moving from traditional tools toward comprehensive strategies that prioritize active risk management. This shift signifies a crucial transition from mere compliance to proactive prevention, encompassing broader security domains and aligning closely with strategic business goals of balancing cybersecurity risk and revenue growth.
At a glance:
- Vulnerability management (VM) teams will be central to maintaining a proactive risk posture
- Vulnerability management will shift towards more automation, focus on identifying real risk, and collaboration with remediation teams
- VM programs will adopt a holistic approach for all security findings that considers asset context, environmental factors, and threat intelligence
The Evolution of Vulnerability Management
For years, vulnerability management has been synonymous with specific scanning tools for a specific set of assets and host vulnerabilities. However, the landscape is changing rapidly, and the legacy vulnerability management approach is broken. Vulnerability management teams are overwhelmed by millions of alerts coming from new security tools, and many struggle to automate prioritization based on context and risks specific to their environment.
The current vulnerability management process consumes limited security operations resources, and falls short in efficiently reducing risk.
For security teams, the manual steps involved in vulnerability management have become a significant operational overhead. Based on some statistics that put the average time to assess a single alert at 21 minutes, security teams can spend up to a quarter of their time sifting through alerts and determining priorities.
At Armis, we distinguish between the broader security function of vulnerability management and the specific category of VM tools. The former is set to take on a more central role in cybersecurity strategies, while outdated VM tools are relegated to obsolescence. This transformation is driven by the urgent need to address the evolving threat landscape with adaptive and forward-thinking approaches.
The focus is shifting towards identifying and addressing actual risks that could lead to breaches. This transition is not only necessary but inevitable as businesses strive to align their security resources and operations on managing their attack surface, and bolstering their risk posture.
Building Momentum for Change
The vulnerability management market has been building towards this inflection point for over 18 months. By 2025, the momentum will be unmistakable, as organizations move away from methodologies designed for an era before digital transformation. Newer tools and platforms are emerging, offering automation, integration, and prioritization capabilities essential for modern cybersecurity. These advancements will empower organizations to work collaboratively across teams, ensuring that vulnerabilities are not just identified but effectively mitigated.
Automation and integration will play a significant role in this transformation. By automating routine tasks and integrating data from various security domains, organizations can streamline their vulnerability management processes. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also frees up valuable resources for addressing high-priority risks and strategic initiatives, ultimately strengthening the organization’s overall security posture.
Reducing Risk, Not Counting Vulnerabilities
In the past, vulnerability management was often reduced to measuring whether the number of vulnerabilities in the environment increased or decreased. Over the course of the last few years, vulnerability management teams have been overwhelmed by the flood of new alerts from cloud security posture management, code scanning and application security – alongside an alarming growth in CVEs. The focus is now on prioritizing vulnerabilities across security domains based on their potential impact and the likelihood of exploitation. Technical severity is no longer the sole guiding factor; instead, the emphasis is on understanding the contextual risk each vulnerability poses to the organization.
Contextualization is key in multiple dimensions: firstly, context helps and translates a generic severity score to a prioritization based on the specific asset, environment and business impact; secondly, it helps security teams identify which finding represents the most urgent risk to the organization – in contrast to tool-specific priorities.
The new model for vulnerability management involves a holistic approach that considers asset context, environmental factors, and threat intelligence. This shift enables organizations to make informed decisions and allocate resources effectively to address vulnerabilities that pose the greatest risk.
The New Model for Vulnerability Management
The emerging model for vulnerability management represents a paradigm shift. It involves consolidating findings across various security domains, including cloud, code, host, and applications. In turn, the category of hosts has expanded from enterprise IT to incorporate IoT, OT and for some verticals, critical infrastructure.
By applying asset and environmental context, organizations can prioritize vulnerabilities and exposures with greater precision. Additionally, incorporating threat intelligence into the process provides insights into which vulnerabilities are actively targeted by threat actors, guiding remediation efforts accordingly.
Consolidation of security findings allows organizations to gain a comprehensive understanding of their threat landscape. By breaking down silos between security domains, organizations can identify patterns and correlations that might otherwise go unnoticed. This integrated approach enhances the accuracy of risk assessments and ensures that vulnerabilities are addressed in a timely and effective manner.
Exposure Assessment Platforms Redefining the Landscape
A key indication of this shift is the establishment of a new tool category by Gartner—Exposure Assessment Platforms (EAPs). These platforms continuously identify and prioritize exposures, such as vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, across diverse asset classes. EAPs integrate with asset discovery and security scanning tools, providing organizations with enhanced visibility. By supporting Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) programs, EAPs empower organizations to proactively manage high-risk exposures, reducing the likelihood of breaches.
The introduction of EAPs reflects the evolving nature of vulnerability management. These platforms offer a more comprehensive and dynamic approach to identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities. By continuously monitoring the threat landscape and adapting to emerging risks, EAPs enable organizations to stay one step ahead of cyber threats, enhancing their overall security posture.
Holistic Attack Surface Management
Vulnerability management teams are becoming integral components of comprehensive attack surface management programs. As part of a broader security strategy, the focus in 2025 for vulnerability management teams will be on continuously prioritizing exposure risks based on real-time asset intelligence, contextualized criticality, and business impact. By collaborating with remediation teams, vulnerability management teams can operationalize proactive risk reduction strategies.
Holistic attack surface management involves a proactive approach to identifying and addressing vulnerabilities. By considering the entire attack surface, organizations can gain a more accurate understanding of their risk landscape. This approach enables organizations to prioritize vulnerabilities based on their potential impact on business operations, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively to address the most critical risks.
Proactive Risk Reduction
The shift to proactive risk reduction is driven by internal changes in IT environments and the increasing speed at which attackers operate, thanks to AI advancements. AI-powered exploits exacerbate the challenge, targeting newly discovered vulnerabilities as well as older ones that continue to pose significant risks.
Proactive risk reduction involves a strategic approach to addressing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers. It follows that advance or early warning alerts on active exploits ahead of inclusion in industry standard tools like the CISA KEV catalog positions vulnerability management teams to quickly close the window of exposure for the assets specifically at risk in a systematic process. By leveraging AI and machine learning technologies, organizations can enhance their threat detection and response capabilities. This proactive stance allows organizations to mitigate risks more effectively, reducing the likelihood of successful attacks and minimizing potential damage.
Meeting the AI Challenge
AI has empowered attackers to develop exploits with unprecedented speed and precision. This presents a significant challenge for organizations, as they must keep pace with the evolving threat landscape. However, AI is also a powerful ally in vulnerability management. By leveraging AI-driven insights, organizations can enhance their ability to detect and respond to threats, staying one step ahead of cybercriminals.
AI can automate many aspects of vulnerability management, from threat detection to risk assessment and remediation. By analyzing vast amounts of data in real-time, AI can help clarify which competing priority to focus on, based on multiple factors. This allows organizations to respond more rapidly to emerging threats, minimizing the window of opportunity for attackers.
Unified Security Management
A unified approach to security management is essential for holistic risk prioritization. By consolidating security findings across source code, misconfigurations, and vulnerabilities, organizations can gain a comprehensive view of their security posture. Integrating this data with evidence-based early warning intelligence enables better risk prioritization across the enterprise. This leads to informed decision-making and more effective risk mitigation strategies.
Unified security management involves breaking down silos between security teams and fostering collaboration. By sharing insights and data across departments, organizations can gain a more accurate understanding of their risk landscape. This collaborative approach enhances the effectiveness of vulnerability management efforts, ensuring that vulnerabilities are addressed in a timely and coordinated manner.
Business Context and Security Policies
Future VM strategies will incorporate business context and security policies to guide risk prioritization. By aligning vulnerability management efforts with organizational objectives and compliance requirements, organizations can ensure that their security strategies are aligned with broader business goals. This approach fosters a more intelligent and strategic approach to risk management.
By considering business context and security policies, organizations can make more informed decisions about which vulnerabilities to prioritize. This alignment ensures that security efforts are focused on protecting the most critical assets and supporting business objectives. Additionally, compliance with regulatory requirements is maintained, reducing the risk of legal and reputational consequences.
Engaging the C-Suite
The transition of vulnerability management from the basement to the C-suite requires engagement from senior leadership. C-suite executives play a crucial role in driving the adoption of advanced vulnerability management strategies. By recognizing the strategic importance of cybersecurity, executives can allocate resources and support initiatives that enhance the organization’s security posture.
Engaging the C-suite involves demonstrating the business value of effective vulnerability management. By highlighting the potential impact of vulnerabilities on business operations and reputation, executives can make informed decisions about resource allocation. Additionally, by fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness, executives can empower employees to take an active role in protecting the organization.
Conclusion
The evolution of vulnerability management marks a significant milestone in the cybersecurity landscape. In 2025, organizations will witness a paradigm shift as VM moves from the basement to the C-suite. This transition is driven by the need for proactive risk reduction, holistic attack surface management, and the integration of AI-driven insights. By prioritizing vulnerabilities based on contextual risk and business impact, organizations can enhance their security posture and stay one step ahead of cyber threats. For cybersecurity professionals and IT managers, this shift presents an opportunity to lead the charge in transforming vulnerability management into a strategic asset that safeguards the organization’s future.
